Tag: new year

“For what it’s worth… it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start over again.”

– F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I thought about dwelling on 2017, on the hardships I experienced, the heartache and desolation that was felt sometimes, the brokenness that occurred early in the year. There was more than that though. I thought about writing about my successes in research, getting published, changing my major, finding my purpose (or trying to). I thought to write about the relationships I formed, the ones that came with me from 2016 and blossomed even more, the new ones that helped me love myself and others more, and the romantic one that I could have never predicted but am so thankful for. I thought about writing of my personal journey, the one where I felt empowered, then small, loved, then lonely, invincible, then broken, and the roller coaster that it was. I thought about writing about how I’ve changed (a lot) in good and bad ways, because it is arrogant and mistaken to say that we always only change in good ways (though I hope the good greatly outweighs the bad). I thought about the memories, the rich and vibrant memories of places I went (England! Ireland! Boston! Atlanta! The Gulf Coast! How blessed I am to see the world). My eyes took in some impeccable places with some amazing people.

I thought about it all, about 2017. It was painful. It was momentous. It was beautiful. Every day something happened, sometimes I wrote it down, but I mostly tried to store it away up top with failure more than I wished (we always overestimate the ability of our memory). I did write some though, mostly prayers in pen tucked away in a book filled with empty pages and my deepest hopes and dreams and concerns and questions. I thought a lot, about what love actually is, and whether it can actually last, and what I believe and who I am and where I belong and what I will do for the rest of my life. I worried a bit too, about the latter questions and if I will find happiness in what I am pursuing and the life I am building. I thought about my future. I thought about the present, whether I was making the right decisions. I thought about my friends, how truly blessed and favored I am, how God always takes care of me. I thought about faith, my journey, my flaws, my strengths. I thought about my blessings. I tried to think of them more than my problems, insecurities, and heartaches. They were abundantly more in the past year than those anyways. There were nights I cried, full of questioning, and nights where my heart wanted to leap out of my chest for happiness and overwhelming peace. I can’t explain 2017, but it was a mysterious thing with some of the hardest and best times of my life. A year of true lows and glorious highs. To write of it would take a novel, to think of it would take a journey, but to appreciate it takes very little. I appreciate who I was this time last year and who my experiences over the last year have made me. I am indebted to those who have prayed for me, offered me their love, and walked with me through the past year. I am incredibly thankful to those who I’ve met who have accepted me and cherished me. Finally, I look to God for all He has done for me. I’ve experienced lovely, magnificent things because of Him, and my perspective on a difficult life change was crafted in His hands. What a year it has been. Here is to 2018 – another year of magical, unpredictable, eventful, and beautiful memories with those I love.

A trend I stumbled upon on wordpress was this #oneword2016. After reading through a few articles I got the impression that this is a one word “mantra” dedicated to 2016. I started contemplating some of the words that I would like to implement into 2016. Some of the words that came to mind were words like real, strength, imagine. All of these words were fitting for my life, but for some reason I felt inclined to think of word that didn’t “fit” my life. A word that wasn’t something that didn’t just come to the top of my mind. A word I had to search for.

Then I thought of Open. I would like to be more open in 2016.

Open to having coffee with a stranger.

Open to reading books I don’t think I will enjoy.

Open to having meaningful conversations at odd times in the day.

Open to change.

Open to suggestions.

Open to commitment.

Open to challenging myself mentally.

Open to challenging myself physically.

Open to creating novel ideas and writing about them generously.

Open…

I would like to be more open. I dedicate 2016 to the year I step outside of my comfort zone, explore new ideas, learn more about the world, make silly choices, and be a more open person.

I encourage you to find your #oneword2016. Analyze where you could use some remodeling in your life. We all need to rearrange our perspectives sometimes.

Comment your #oneword2016 so I can be a part of your journey to liberation, success, and happiness!

My own health and fitness journey has been somewhat of a hilly ride. Ups and downs of oscillating between being feeling good and feeling like I’m not good enough. I can definitely say that I have learned a lot about my own body, my own boundaries, and my own ways to balance a healthy life. 2015 was my year of finding this balance. I used to spend hours upon hours in the gym lifting weights, doing squats, doing crunches, and running miles on the treadmill. At the time, I thought I was happy. I thought that I was okay with letting an exterior appearance determine so much of my happiness. But I found myself with a lot of anxiety. I was undoubtedly physically stronger. But my mental strength was on the other end of the continuum. I valued appearing strong, appearing fit, and appearing invincible over the truly invaluable qualities of mental happiness and manifesting a physical health that will help me live a long life that is absent of health complications. Fast forward to May of this year, at a place called Glow Yoga in Gulf Shores, AL.

I am infatuated with cardiovascular medicine. The heart is so amazing to me, and it is even more extraordinary how much control we have over the cardiac complications we can develop. For this reason, living a healthy lifestyle means more to me than looking thin in a dress or being happy with the person I see in the mirror. Health to me means finding strength internally and externally. A healthy lifestyle means I try to make healthy choices daily, but I don’t obsess over eating bad. I try to choose the better option for my body, but I don’t get anxiety if I eat something full of sugar and totally not-healthy.

I took my first yoga class in Gulf Shores. I had been trying to do it at home but I had not been using the best resources. But I wanted to try something new, I had just bought new yoga pants and what better place than the beach? So I attended my first hot yoga session and it was HOT and HARD. Truthfully, I almost passed out because of dehydration (sweating a lot with only one bottle of water in me) and temperatures of around 90 degrees in the humidity of a southern summer. But it was wonderful. It was challenging. It was invigorating. It was refreshing. It made me feel strong and whole. That began my love affair with yoga.

Being a college student is tough. There are a lot of demands; most from academic courses, others from social life, spiritual development, clubs, and trying to stay fit. Yoga is my time during the week to strengthen my body physically (I have lost around 9 pounds in college!) and help my mind pause in the midst of a chaotic life. I would recommend yoga to anyone that is trying to overcome workout-related anxiety, gain mental happiness, become healthier for life, strengthen and elongate muscles, gain stability and control, and essentially anyone just curious about a new workout! I want to include some of the resources I find really useful for yoga at home and yoga beginners!

Podcasts. If you’re interested in doing yoga from home but still want to feel like you’re at a class, podcasts are a wonderful resource. I prefer going to class for the group camaraderie but sometimes staying home is the only option! Some of favorites are 502 Power Yoga : Louisville, KY and Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga with Kinndli. YouTube videos are also always a great option!

A yoga mat. Yoga is possible without a mat, but it definitely makes it easier! A cute mat makes it that much more enjoyable, too. I got mine from here.

Tight fitting clothes. It is difficult to do yoga when your clothes are flopping around everywhere! Tight pants and a form fitting tank top with a sports bra are usually the best options. I love Lululemon apparel (found here) but for more affordable options look at places like Forever 21 (here).

Hot towel and hand towel. If you’re going to try hot yoga (which I would recommend after you have practiced yoga and feel comfortable with some of the poses!), you will need a towel. I like mat towels because my mat doesn’t stay dry whenever I sweat a lot. Mat towels and hand towels come in a variety of beautiful colors and patterns. I like Yogitoes by Manduka! Find them here.

Here is a video from Reflexion Yoga on YouTube that explains some of the fundamental poses that are essential to grow your practice.

The new year is a perfect time to begin your decision to choose a healthy life! I have found my balance and peace in doing yoga to maintain a fit life and sound mind. Let me know if I can help you with your practice anytime!

2015 was one of my greatest years so far. I have seen myself grow so much just in the past few months and look forward to how much I will learn about myself and my future in the next year as well. God has blessed me beyond what I deserve this year. My highlights of 2015 include:

Gaining my beautiful, healthy baby nephew

Getting nominated, interviewed, and selected as Presidential Scholar

Spending prom night in Nashville with my very best friends (whom I miss so much)

Being Valedictorian for the class of 2015 and the great experiences that entailed

Spending two lovely weeks at the beach with my family

Taking my first, REAL yoga class at Glow Yoga in Gulf Shores, AL

Relaxing over the summer and reading some extraordinary books

Shadowing a cardiac electrophysiologist at Vanderbilt

Attending NEEDTOBREATHE and For King and Country concerts

Moving to Belmont, living with my amazing roommates, and making lifelong memories

Getting the opportunity to conduct biological research in neuroscience

Finding my niche at Ethos church

Continuing to learn through difficult times and lean more dependently on God

Realizing life isn’t perfect, and it never will be. But that isn’t what makes it beautiful.

In 2016, I have decided to change up my blog posts! I am going to post more frequently and hopefully I can help others with some of the things I have decided to write about. As you probably know, I am a college student studying biochemistry and wanting to pursue medicine. I would love to incorporate more of my study techniques, my ways to navigate through difficult material, and different things related to my course of study. I am going to post more about my journey through yoga and how I became interested in yoga. I will continue my posts about concepts and ideas, and I look forward to sharing more of my opinions on philosophical texts and ideas. I also want to spend more time focusing on Christianity and spirituality. So if you are interested in very different hobbies and interests, I welcome you to my blog!

For 2016 you can look for posts that center around:

My journey as a science major and pre-Med student

My ways to find happiness and motivation in high stress situations

My thoughts on various scientific and philosophical texts, concepts, and ideas

My journey as a yogi, health and wellness tips, and ways to find healthy eats in different places

My occasional beauty post or recommendations

My raw and vulnerable thoughts as I navigate through difficult times

My reasons for being a Christian and some of the readings I find helpful

I am excited about this change for my blog, but I look forward to continuing the types of posts I have been about since day one. I hope many of you can find ways to help me in various aspects of my life as well. I pray for all of you to have a happy new year, and find many joys and successes in 2016!

Something has compelled me to write about love. Hold on, don’t click out of the screen yet. I’m not talking about the “Oh you’re so cute, I love you” kind of love. Or the “thanks for the money!” kind of love.

I am talking about the raw, unexplainable, but totally authentic type of love. The kind that your grandparents show you when they offer you enough food to feed a third world country. The kind you feel towards the victims of those who have experienced a tragic loss. The kind of love that propels us forward everyday. The kind of love that makes people inseparable, created by a bond that can only be felt and described by the ones experiencing it. The kind of love that makes us want to forgive people, just so that area of void within ourselves can be exchanged for peace. The kind of love that makes us express affection towards ourselves, others, and our lives. Love is, in my opinion, the strongest, most abundant, and most violent emotion we can feel.

The word “love” turns off so many. I know people who are overly attracted to the word love, and I know some who are completely repelled by it. I think it is very important to develop a comfortable relationship with this emotion. Whether you are one to hide your emotions or you are (like me in most instances) a very expressive person, loving and being lovable are very important attributes. Love creates happiness. It creates something unique with every person you let it grow between. Love is very powerful.

Being lovable. The first of two perspectives.

Being lovable to me, means letting others explore your mind. Letting them inside of your most reserved and protected thoughts. Let those who surround you and offer you sincerity in their words take an adventure through your mind. What you have in your head is so valuable and so essential; let others hear it. Express to those around you your issues. Allow others to love you wholly and relentlessly. Let others offer help to you when you are at your most vulnerable state. Being loved is one of the greatest feelings in the world. There is nothing like the love of someone who chooses to love you. Someone who, in the chaotic and busiest times of his or her life makes it a priority to pick you is something worth noticing. To exchange precious time in their life for you is remarkable and something we take for granted far too often. Destroying boundaries is so critical to being lovable. Allowing others to tread on your grounds and taking the risk of being hurt is a sacrifice worth making. Open your heart to those around you and become lovable. Life will become a new shade of beautiful when you do this.

Loving. The second perspective.

The moment you see a homeless person ask for money and you feel a sense of compassion. The time that you sat beside your loved ones at the funeral home and listened to the saddening words of a preacher talk about someone who continues to hold a place in your heart. The time you see someone take up for you, make you feel included, or make a point to reach out to you. During all of these times, love was residing in your heart. Loving people is one of the two most important commands of all time. Loving others is so beneficial, so rewarding, that those who don’t do it will never live a life of optimal happiness. Sacrificing oneself for someone else is the most important action of all. Selflessness and love are codependent of each other. Love people. Just do it.

This may have been a sappy post, but I honestly do not care. Too many times people spend their whole lives harboring so much hatred for people who aren’t worth it. It takes the same amount of energy to love someone as it does to hate them. As cliche as it sounds, yes, life is too short to spend your time disliking others. Loving others will sometimes leave you hurt and heartbroken. But sometimes it will leave you with a life surrounded by those who care for you, people who love you, and satisfaction with who you are as a person.

Spend 2015 trying to love and be loved, and I promise it will be a year full of abundant happiness for you : )